Old Delhi Red Fort - seat of the Mughal Empire

March 24, 2012

There was a time, long long long ago, when Muslims thrived in India. However, hundreds of years later, the Muslim population is now considered as one of the minorities in the contemporary Indian society. Nevertheless, the era of the Mughal Empire has been marked with several monuments (click on the monuments tab) like tombs, mosques and gardens.

Apart from these monuments and places of worship, the Mughal Empire also built the Red Forts to serve as their seats of power. I heard there are many red forts in India. One of the most famous is the Red Fort (Lal Quilla) found in Old Delhi.

Masive/Colossal structure

We didn't go inside the Red Fort in Old Delhi and preferred to go around the perimeter. The reasons for which can either be of the three: 1) there's so much to be seen outside; 2) Rosie already came from Red Fort in Agra and was not inclined to go again; 3) we didn't really want to pay the Rs. 250 entrance fee for foreign nationals (since we don't have our residence certificates yet at the time). Which do you think was our reason?! Hehe 

Entrance to the fort

Anyway, whichever reason you think it was, we can still say that we didn't really mind not going inside. There are, however, a lot of visitors to the fort queuing to get in and see what lies behind the thick walls. I imagined it will be something similar to Intramuros in Manila.

Confession: I threw a stick in that direction to make the birds fly.
I'm bad. Sorry. I didn't hit any bird though!

The park outside the Red Fort is generally deserted, except for the birds that hang around either for the coolness of the green grass or for corn kernels thrown in that way. I think if there were more shades, a lot of people would prefer sitting in the grass than standing around the fort or by the gate.

Withstanding the changes of seasons and centuries

Website bharatonline.com has this to say for Red Fort basics: The Red Fort of Delhi is a massive monument built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. It took approximately 10 years to complete the Red Fort of Delhi that was started in the year 1638. Situated on the embankment of river Yamuna, the fort was constructed during the zenith of Mughal Empire. The Red Fort was supposed to be the fortress of the Shah Jahan's new capital at Delhi, Shahjahanabad. 

Lal Quila of Delhi is surrounded by a moat, now dry, and walls that stretch on
for approximately two km. The width of the wall varies from 18m
on the riverside to 33m on the city side.

Today, the Red fort serves as the venue for the Prime Minister's Speech that is given on the Independence Day of the country.